By Alistair McInnis/Black Press Sports

He’ll have the luxury of familiarity and support from the host city at the Roar of the Rings pre-Olympic curling trials in Prince George.

A former Prince George resident, Kelowna-based curler Bob Ursel said those elements can’t hurt his chances of being one of four skips to qualify for the Roar of the Rings Olympic curling trials next month in Edmonton.

But with a dozen of the top men’s curling teams vying to get there, Ursel will have no shortage of challengers, starting with his Tuesday game versus Ted Appleman of Edmonton at the CN Centre.

“Everybody there is capable of playing great, so there’s certainly no teams there we’d ever take lightly,” said Ursel.

An RCMP officer with 20 years of policing experience, Ursel lived in Prince George between 1990 and 1995 while working for the city’s detachment.

“I’m really excited about it (returning). Our team is playing well and Prince George has always been good to me,” he said. “I’ve got lots of fond memories of PG so I’m looking forward to it.”

Ursel plans to use allocated practice time Monday to throw stones and get a feel for the ice, along with his teammates: third Jim Cotter of Vernon, second Ryan Folk and lead Kevin Sawatsky.

Also at 12:30 p.m., Kerry Burtnyk of Winnipeg meets Jason Gunnlaugson of Beausejour, Man., Joel Jordison of Moose Jaw, Sask., takes on the Richmond-based Greg McAulay team, and Jean-Mitchel Menard of St. Romuald, Que, battles Pat Simmons of Davidson, Sask.

Jeff Stoughton (Winnipeg), Wayne Middaugh (Toronto), Brad Gushue (St. Johns, Nfld.) and Mike McEwan (Winnipeg) will meet the winners of the first-round matches in the A side quarterfinals on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m.

The first of four men’s event qualifiers will be determined during the A Event final on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The B Event qualifier will be determined on Friday, while two C Event finals will be held Saturday to determine the final two qualifying teams.

The teams selected for the Roar of the Rings will meet four other previously qualified teams in Edmonton to determine Canada’s male representative for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Teams that qualified directly for Edmonton are skipped by Kevin Martin, Kevin Koe and Randy Ferbey, all of Edmonton, and Glenn Howard (Coldwater, Ont.).

Ursel is ranked ninth out of 12 men’s squads competing at the pre-Olympic trials.

“I really wouldn’t say that there’s one team over another. I think it’s all based on your own performance,” he said. “If you play well, you give yourself a chance of winning. If you don’t play well, you’re not going to win.”